WED 4/12

6:00 p.m. Where Guilt Exists written by Nora Herzog, directed by Kennedie King

7:00 p.m. Tearing Down the Walls First Wave Touring Ensemble

7:15 p.m. Note to Self First Wave 10th Cohort

8:15 p.m. Ball & Chain Tiffany Ike

9:25 p.m. Goddess at Your Feet Jamie Dawson

Where Guilt Exists

Where Guilt Exists is Nora Laine Herzog's one-woman show, an autobiographical narrative on what survivor's guilt looks like in the face of epidemic suicide. The content of the show was written by Nora Herzog over the course of the last three years, and has been translated to stage by the artistic directorship of Kennedie King.

Tearing Down the Walls

Seven First Wave Activist Scholars will share sample social justice performances from their school year that has been utilized in spaces for the YWCA, Boys and Girls Club, NPR, MOSES Group and other organizations to impact students, community members and educators. Their work is meant to empower, motivate and contribute to the change and serve the community and beyond.

This performance deals with the arrival of 14 students to a place of racism in Madison, WI and the recurring systematic structures of hyper-masculinity, Eurocentric standards of living and the ensuing need for self-care. The work encompasses how the issues are addressed, how it feels while going through it, and how to find a little light in between.

Ball & Chain

This is a story that explores the realities of our country. It speaks of blackness, masculinity, tokenism, and what it means to deal with love, goals, and relationships while also trying to stay alive or free in a society that doesn’t want you to exist. This tale is embodied through the narrative of a boy named Deandre Washington.

Tiffany Ike is an artist, athlete, and activist from Houston, TX. She currently studies Psychology and Communication Arts at UW-Madison. She is a First Wave Scholar where she continues her art as a visual and spoken word artist. She also works with The JVN project, an organization that uses hip-hop as a tool of empowerment as the Outreach & Development director. She dabbles in different art forms such as singing, photography and likes to involve herself in many activities. She also is a triple jumper for the UW-Madison Varsity track team. Ice cream is her meal of choice, black sitcoms before 2005 give her life, and every once in awhile she relives her hoops dreams at the gym.

Goddess at Your Feet

Inspired by the black musical tradition of masking in which lyrics can represent both the trifling love of a relationship and a trifling system that stands against a person and community, Goddess at Your Feet follows the character Angel as she heals from personal heartbreak while still recognizing the breaking of black bodies from this world as a result of institutional pressures and systematic oppression. Through poetry, dance, and multimedia arts Jamie Dawson cultivates a journey consisting of love, laughs, sacrifice and redemption.

Jamie Dawson is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin Madison. After 5 years of building with Heard Em Say Youth Poetry Troupe, she took her talents to the First Wave Hip Hop and Urban Arts Scholarship on campus as a part of the 9th Cohort. Jamie studies Afro American studies, psychology, and is pre-health. Jamie's pretty cool and brings the sunshine and heat of her hometown, Tampa, Florida, everywhere she goes.